Each year in late April, the EEB administrative offices transform into a series of putting greens for an afternoon of “admini golf.” The fun and games are part of a week of events to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the staff throughout the year.

The theme this year was Pure Michigan. Staff displayed and voted on their photos that depicted the spirit of our beautiful state. Bethany Christoff’s photo with her son, Max, in a community garden, captured first place. Janet Bell’s collage showing the making of maple syrup with her husband, Chet, came in second. A three-way tie for third was between Amber Stadler with a giant fish caught by her uncle, Vlad Miskevich’s trail at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, and Sonja Botes’ collage of Detroit highlights featuring her with friends.

The mini golf courses included an expansive Mackinac Bridge (first place for favorite golf hole by Sonja Botes), a fishing pond, a Michigan pot hole, a map of Michigan featuring lighthouses, the Motor City, a Michigan State University homage, the food products of Michigan, a misty (thanks to dry ice) woodland scene featuring deer and elk, and a second Mackinac Bridge that ended in an agar lake.

Two newcomers were the winning team with the lowest golf score of 33 this year -- Courtney Long and Professor Chris Dick. Two experienced golfers had the most fun on the course with the highest score -- Mark Brahce and Michael Ehnis (the score is under wraps). There were 15 holes-in-one, which is probably a record for our admini golf course, according to Nancy Smith, EEB department manager.  The ace putting teams include: Jackie Glebe and Alex Livne, Cindy Carl and Chris Davis, John Megahan and Janet Bell, Robbin Murrell and Rita Barvinok, Charles Davey and Professor Deborah Goldberg, Dennis Drobeck and Professor Diarmaid Ó Foighil, Yoni Drazen and Awura Ampene, Vlad Miskevitch and Nancy Smith, Bethany Christoff and Amber Stadler.

The staff played their favorite weekly email game, Tuesday Trivia, and Cindy Carl won by correctly guessing that Awura Ampene was born in a taxi and gave birth to her first child in her husband’s car. The winning team for a matching trivia identification game was Jason Dobkowski and Sara Fortin.

“Thank you all again – you truly are the best staff in the university!” said Smith.  

Captions: (top) Charles Davey, Deborah Goldberg and Dennis Drobeck putt their way through the offices. (bottom) Courtney Long and Chris Dick are on their way to winning lowest score. Credit: Dale Austin.